I decided to start with the boys shared closet since I thought that would be one of the easier tasks. The closet was not necessarily unorganized, it just needed a little paring down and some minor upgrades from their previous setup.

I thought I would apply a few of the concepts I shared yesterday, based on the inspiration photos.

I took everything out of the closet and evaluated the size. If something was questionable {as some things run big and small}, I had the kids try on their clothing to see how well it still fit.

We checked over items for tears, rips, stains, etc...

Items that no longer fit were tossed into a donate bin.

Everything was hung back up on hugable hangers to maximize the itty bitty closet space and the reduce the number of falling shirts {"Really mom! They fell! I did hang up my clothes, I promise!"}

We created clothing tag labels, not to divide clothing types {our system is simple, shirts on top rod, pants on lower}, but to give the kids a place to plan our their clothes for the entire week. We currently plan the night before, but planning on Sunday for the entire week will give us one less thing to do each night. And although summer is just around the corner, the kids will still need to be able to pop out of bed and get dressed for summer activities and programs. Not to mention, it will help them get into a good routine for our next school year.

Making the clothing tags took a little longer than I anticipated, and at moments, I questioned if it would have been easier to spend the ten smackaroos on these ones from The Container Store. But, on the positive I was able to catch up on a few DVR'd shows while I crafted away and I am totally in love with the final outcome!

To make the tags, I just used some leftover cardboard from cereal boxes, which I cut using my Silhouette to ensure all were the same size:

Because I wanted both the fronts and backs to be pretty I also cut decorative paper to glue to the back:

And printed out the fronts onto some old CD labels we had. Here you can see the front and back:

Though the laminator they went to ensure a nice and happy long life! Once out of the laminator, another cut around all the edges with the scissors. The entire process was easy enough, just time consuming with all the cutting and creating printable labels.

Onto the rod they went! I was instantly smitten!

I was also excited to pick out outfits for the week!

Since we just keep their shorts folded in a bin on the shelf, I used
some clothespins to clip them to the shirt hanger to create their
outfits.

Now their closet looks like this:

And what didn't make the cut {mainly because it was too small}, made it's way into a donate bin.

Saying goodbye to the super cute clothes and pj's that are worn by my youngest is always the hardest part of the entire process... if only they could stay itty bitty forever {tear}.

I have to say! It feels amazing to have one of the three rooms knocked off the list {my oldest son's dresser and my armoire are still waiting to be tackled}. Off to work on the next!

Who else manages outfits for the kidlets a week at a time, and how has it been working for you? Any other tips for maintaining a tidy tiny kid's closet?

Pssst! You may have noticed that we have since upgraded the bins to the Target ITSO bins, since they are much sturdier and gave much more room for the kid's clothing. The previous bins ended up working out well for a gal pal's child, so it was a win win!

Jen..you have inspired me. I was actually working on my baby girl's closet when I sat down to take a break and read your blog. I have so much wasted space it makes me sad :( I am hoping to have the closets done this week..I might even tackle the bathroom closet too :)

Love it! I actually finished my "linen closet" in the hallway, which I use for outdoor plates, tumblers, place mats, etc. Emptied out, re-organized, and put things back in. Next one is the boys' rooms. Not only clothing, but also their toys!

Love the bins, I may get some myself. Did you order them online, or in the store?

Quick question: Are the hangers kid-sized? And where did you get them? I'm in the process of upgrading my 9 year old son's closet hangers away from the plastic toddler/little kid size to something that better fits his bigger clothing. I wasn't aware that kid-sized flocked hangers were even available! :)

They are child sized. We use the adult size ones in our armoires and loved them so much that we upgraded the boy's closet as well. They are made by Real Simple and I purchased them at Bed Bath & Beyond {I always watch for those frequent 20% off coupons}. They also sell them at The Container Store, Amazon.com, Target and HomeGoods.

I pick outfits out for at least 5 days a week, we dont have them hung as nice as this (although I might now), I do stack them in her closet and let her pick from the stack each day as we are getting ready. She is only 2 1/2 now, but I am hoping this sticks and makes it easier for when school starts in a few years.

You can find those amazing hangers at Tj Maxx, they are pretty sturdy, and they are non slip, I love them! They have them in kid size too. Yay! You can check them out in the last reader space Jen posted. Claudia

The ones pictured are child sized, however, we use the adult size ones in our armoires and loved them so much that we upgraded the boy's closet as well. They are made by Real Simple and I purchased them at Bed Bath & Beyond {I always watch for those frequent 20% off coupons}. They also sell them at The Container Store, Amazon.com, Target and HomeGoods.

You are one amazing woman...reading this made me wonder how you travel. I mean you are so organized. I've always been able to get anything I want to fit in our van (and with 4 now--I will have to prove to myself I've still got that talent)but knowing our family vacation includes camping this year (on top of the normal fill the van necessities) I spent most of my free brain time (feeding baby) wondering how to fit everything in. Someday would you do a post on organizing your car for vacations--that would be awesome. Thanks for all your inspiration...I'm in love your with blog!

I usually pick out their clothes the night before and it just adds to my weeknight "to do" list. Picking out clothes for the entire week on Sunday evening is a great idea! I need to do it for myself too. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas.

Agree on the mother nature thing! We can always switch things up if necessary, but it is nice to have some sort of plan and system for the kids. Around here, they pretty much live in short sleeves and shorts for the summer, long sleeves and jeans in the winter and take their zip up fleece hoodies everywhere. :)

I like the dividers for a weeks worth of outfits, but living in Chicago, I have to agree with anonymous. Weather fluctuates too much here to plan a week at a time. Sure I could check the weekly forecast but we all know that weathermen aren't very good long term.

Having said all that my daughters' closets are in desperate need of purging and reorganizing so I plan to do that next week once school is out and before camp starts. Thanks for the ideas.

One more thing, I looked at your previous closet post and was wondering where you got the chalk ink pen. I have been looking everywhere (target, office supply stores etc). Thank you for posting a picture of the pen, at least that may make it easier to find

Oh my gosh! I love your kids closet! It's super tidy, organized, everything looks so neat! I have been wanting to use tags to organized clothes on hangers as well, I just never knew how to make them. Thank you for sharing your awesome idea, their closet is amazing!XoXoClaudia

We do outfits for my 2 girls (4 and 5) by the week, but usually by week's end when there are only 1 or 2 outfits left, things get a little crazy. My girls are super picky about what they wear and when they only have one or two options left, they aren't happy about it. Sometimes I just let them choose something else those mornings (if they can do it quickly) and sometimes we pick out a few extra outfits on Sundays when we lay them out. Ugh...girls. ; )

My boys are picky too, especially my youngest! He freaks out when I transfer something from his brother's side to his because I am "handing it down". He doesn't understand that it's now his and not his brothers, lol. I let the boys do most of the picking out, but I got to this week since they were at school when I did the project. :)

Love how cute your closet looks (as always)! We are in the middle of packing to move, so there is plenty of sorting and purging going on, but very little of it is pretty. I actually organized my kids' closets earlier in the year though, including all of the baby clothes we might use another time around, and it has been wonderful to have everything so far ahead for the moving process.

As for organizing weekly outfits, I actually shared the system I use for my four year old on one of your link parties a while ago. I put the outfits together most of the time (unless he is around and interested), but he gets to pick one of the choices each day. That gives him at least a little bit of choice.

Here's the link to the post I shared last time around:http://mommyrepeat.blogspot.com/2012/03/inside-evans-closet.html

I agree they should totally help pick out their clothes, it reduces unnecessary arguments and gives them good decision making skills :) I let the boys do most of the picking out, but I got to do it this week since they were at school when I did the project.

That is funny! I am just trying to give them good skills at a young age to make it easier on them when they are older. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, my oldest is not so organized {and has zero interest}, my youngest on the other hand organized our parade treats by type and size, lol!

I have a hanging organizer with 5 shelves in my daughter's closet. It's probably intended for sweaters, but we've used it for the 5 school days for a couple years. We load it up on Sunday night for the whole week. Each shelf gets an outfit, including socks, belts, undies, even hairbands. I pick 3 or 4 days, she does the other 1 or 2. She's 7 and it's still working well. It's really nice to grab and go. Even in the future when I have less say in her outfits, the idea will still work. I think.

We started laying out my daughters clothes for the whole week about half way through the school year. It has gone well most weeks. Some mornings she grumbles about what she picked out. I hung hooks on a wall in her room near the closet and put picture frames above them. The pictures frames have cute paper in them with the days of the week. We use a dry erase marker to write on the glass with special events or things that might be going on that day.

We started laying out my daughters clothes for the whole week about half way through the school year. It has gone well most weeks. Some mornings she grumbles about what she picked out. I hung hooks on a wall in her room near the closet and put picture frames above them. The pictures frames have cute paper in them with the days of the week. We use a dry erase marker to write on the glass with special events or things that might be going on that day.

They aren't always, of course I straightened things out a bit for the photos. My boys are in charge of putting away all of their clothes and hanging them all up, but the hangers tend to naturally space themselves out nicely.

What a beautiful closet. You utilized the space so well! So inspiring!I thought about picking out my little one's clothes a week ahead, but I always feel like the wether is changing on me last minute. I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a try and I can always swap articles of clothing out if necessary.

Agree on the mother nature thing! We can always switch things up if necessary, but it is nice to have some sort of plan and system for the kids. Around here, they pretty much live in short sleeves and shorts for the summer, long sleeves and jeans in the winter and take their zip up fleece hoodies everywhere. :)

I love the idea of managing their clothes by the week instead of every night! I recently made the clothing organizers for my youngest and I ordered blank ones from Amazon. They are the same as the Container Store ones but a fraction of the price! Just a tip if you end up doing them somewhere else in your home! :) Thanks for all of your wonderful advice!

Jen, do you (or any of the readers) have any experience or comments on the Closetmaid wire sheving systems for closets - the ones you can buy at home improvement stores? Our MBR closet needs some love but I am hesitant to do anything costly or time-consuming since we're renting.

We used them in our walk-in. They are expensive but great quality. We just found they didn't offer the amount of versatile storage options we were looking for, so we ended up taking them out and plan to use them in a closet under our stairs instead.

I love the dividers especially for each day! Thinking about doing something similar for my daughters closet. Do you have suggestions as to what I could use on wire shelves? I'm afraid what you used might not stay on.

You did a great job on those! I bought some closet dividers from amazon and of course they don't look half as cute as yours!http://logansinmo.blogspot.com/2012/05/organization-inspiration-closet-rod.html

Love, LOVE their closet! Okay, please tell me the total number of shirts, shorts, pants, pj's, socks, etc. your kids own. I need to pair down and I NEED specifics because that is how my brian works. Thank you!

I don't necessarily stay at a strict number of items but I do try to ensure they have at least 8 short sleeve and 8 long sleeve, two sweaters, seven pair of pants, seven pair of shorts, a hoodie and a collared shirt. That gives us enough versatility to have enough outfits for a week's period of time and an extra shirt on hand for just in case moments. Socks and PJ's are just whatever can fit in their bins {and nothing more}. Because a lot of their clothes are handed down or gifted to us, there are times when they have more than that, but if I don't have a hanger or the space, then something must go before something new enters.

Luckily my daughter wears a school uniform 5 days a week - I've recently organised it so that I have a small bookcase in the hallway between our two bedrooms. I have put 3 baskets on the bottom shelf. One has uniform tops, one has bottoms, and the other has socks and underwear. Most mornings she comes into our bed (its winter here) and its been so easy to just grab something out of each basket on the way in and out of either room.Walking past the bookcase you can't tell the baskets have got uniforms/clothes in it, and its been so much quicker in the mornings.In Summer I will just change out the winter uniform and put the summer dresses in one of the baskets.Oh, and after school - she loves to get straight into her Pj's!...

Brilliant and beautiful, as always, and truly a treat for the eyes! Jen what I love about your blog and your philosophy is that you use your imagination to create these little personal luxuries for yourself and for your family. You've decided that you don't have to be Queen Elizabeth to have a dressing room, or hire an architect to customize your home. And going to your closet in the morning can be as delightful as it would be to have a personal shopper managing your wardrobe! Gorgeous job on your boys' closet!

Many of your ideas have caught on in my home since I became a reader last fall. Occasionally I have commented here that my parents-in-law from another country are coming to stay with us for a year. We have moved twice in the last 2.5 years (once was from MN to CA, and then again across town.) I have been purging ever since, trying to make better sense of the drastic downsizing we underwent in the cross-country move. My home needed a major overhaul before my in-laws arrived; shelves, closets cabinets, drawers, (everything that showed and everything that didn't show.) Well, they arrived about two weeks ago, and everything looks and is functioning very, very well. And to top it all off, yesterday we got a surprise visit from our out-of state, never met face-to-face landlord. We had twenty-four hours notice. I was so so proud of what she saw when I took her through every room. She saw a very well organized and neatly kept home. I don't know if I could have been nearly as motivated and inspired to do it (and do it beautifully), if it weren't for my daily reading of your blog!

One last thing I wanted to share. Do you enjoy poetry? Here is a quote from a beautiful Longfellow poem called The Builders. Google it, because I think you'd enjoy the whole poem. It is fitting to your cause in both it's literal meaning and in the metaphoric one, but here is a quick stanza that I think you'll appreciate:

Let us do our work as well,both the unseen and the seen;Make the house where gods may dwellBeautiful, entire and clean.

Amazing! 2 Questions - We have a shared room with our 2 oldest who are 4 yrs and 2 yrs and I can't keep the little one from pulling all clothes off hangers and throwing on floor. Any suggestions to keep 4 yr old's clothes within reach but un-throwable - Aside from tips on obedience :)? Also, do your kids actually stick with what you select for the week? Mine like to decide each day based on their mood, so the weekly system hasn't worked for us yet, but I really like it, especially with 3 kids under 5 yrs in my home! Thanks for more inspiration!

I have those hangers in my own closet and LOVE them! When I replaced all our other hangers I was totally amazed by how much more space I had. I think I am going to need a Silhouette after reading about all the different things you make with yours!!!!!

PS - In all of my bedroom closets I've had my husband install the white laminated shelving similar to what you have in your boys' closet. We can custom design our built-ins based on our needs, they are easy to clean, and everything stays so much neater than with wire shelving since nothing slips between wires and gets misshapen.

Too bad it's not normal for adults to outgrow clothes (other than gaining weight). It would make it much easier for me to clean out my closet! It's hard when you like almost everything and it still fits you.

I also have a shared space for 2 boys and 2 girls as well our closets are not very big and organization is complicated. I was wondering how you seperated their clothing in the bins so that it doesnt get confusing about which size and doesnt get jumbled. Thank you very much for your blog!!!

I actually don't seperate those items. They are close enough in size that they just share those items, or, they look at the tag at the size if necessary. It was just easier to combine the small items into one single large bin.

we just did an overhaul of my daughter's closet based on your boys' closet...we use the Drona bins from Ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30219281/?query=drona#/70219279) and to separate items inside of the big bins we used these from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60207026/#/00192631They work perfectly to separate undies, socks, tights etc. They also fit nicely inside of dresser drawers.

Hi Jen! Love what you've done here! I was wondering about the bins. You said you switched to the target ITSO bins. I also found these closet maid drawers for a little cheaper (every college kid's dream come true!). I was wondering your opinion on them. The design is sort of a hybrid between the martha stewart and the ITSO. They don't look quite as sturdy, but they are cheaper. What do you think?

LOVE the idea! I was wondering where you got the bins. From previous comments I understand they are canvas? All the one I have been able to find are not tall enough to cover the whole shelf. Thank you!

For my little ones (who don't know how to match), I roll outfits complete with shirt and pants/shorts. This way, they can just grab one of the rolled clothing bundles in their drawers and they know which outfits go together. It was worked out great for us!

I am late to the party here, but wanted to put in my two cents. I have four kids and we have selected a week's worth of clothes on Sunday night for years. I check the forecast for the week and tell the kids what weather to plan for. My youngest daughter, the fashionista of the house routinely chooses an extra outfit, just in case her mood doesn't match the selected outfit on any given day. This system has worked so well for us and I have recommended it to many. My oldest, now 15, seems to have aged out of my system, but the other three still choose on Sunday. We have used fabric cubbies to hold the outfits, but as my kids have grown it is now a struggle to fit a week's worth in them. I love the idea of using dividers in the closet and will be making these soon! Thank you.

Hello!I came accross your blog while searching for closet ideas for our toddler's new room (with another on the way it's time for him to move out of the crib! :)). Your boys' closet looks wonderful, you did a great job! Question for you though, is the white "structure" a built in or did you guys buy it somewhere and just put it in yourselves? We have looked at the elfa system and some others but they are so expensive so we are shopping around.Thank you! Thank you!

The shipping is out rages on these, on several sites. So, I think I'll purchase letter o's made out of wood. Then, trace them on the back of scrapbook paper. Cut them out, and mod podge them on, and do a final coat of modpodge to seal them.

Then take an exacto blade a cut a slit.

So much cheaper than the cute plastic ones, and I think once finished, these will be just as cute.

I usually plan the evening before. Because my daughter can wear things more than one day.I used clamp hangers for trousers to make combinations since she was born (helps against dady-dressup-messup) I hung the shirts over the clamped pants.I now use the clamp hangers to only hang the pants/skirts.I make the combination by getting the clothes outside her closet and hang them on special hooks on the wall.

Because she wears her clothes more than one day ánd she doesn't like it to wear them the whole week I used breadclips with numbers that stand for the times she wore it. The worn clothes get aired at her window when I air her room and then I hang them at the right side of the closet. Clean clothes go on the left side.

I also have different hangers for different clothes. Small wooden for shirts and summerdresses. Bigger plastic ones for sweaters and winterdresses and clamp hangers for pants/skirts/shorts.

Very random question for you. I have a Cricut (I know you have a Silhouette) but how did you get those perfect cutouts from the cereal boxes? Did you freehand the design on the Silhouette or was this a shape that was already available?

Hey! My mom mostly pins stuff for me to find and use. I found this website and now I can organize my... everything! I am so messy you wouldn't believe! I have a pile of clothes between my dresser and my wall of the closet! Part of the problem is that my dresser is so small,and my mom wants me to save all of my clothes until i have children. What she doesn't realize is that is decades away! (I'm 12)I recently tackled the living room and it took two looooong days. I am a really messy person,and my room is magnificently messy and boisterously big. About once a year I rearrange my furniture, but to do that, my room must be clean. It helps if I start out with a clean room to keep it clean, but when we moved here the movers pretty much just dumped stuff places. Anyway, your blog was sooo productive, THANK YOU!!!

I love your closets! Actually I love your whole blog. I have a system of rolling clothes into outfits for my kids, they get to "pick a roll" in the morning and the clothes take up way less space. Every roll has a top/bottom tights if winter, underwear, socks. I have a nice wicker basket where the "unmatched" clothes live so they only ever have full sets of clothes. Makes packing a breeze too, we are going away for 2 days, you need two rolls of clothes and one set of jammies (these are rolled into sets too). My kindy kids have three teired shelves with "day" "nice and spare (for kindy bags)" and "jammies/sweaters", my school aged child has "uniforms", "weekend/mufti" and "jammies/sweaters". The folding/rolling takes the same length of time as long as I keep up with it (which I dont always!). We also only have one weeks worth of clothes each, to avoid over clutter. (Also helps with 3 kids sharing a room).

Do you by any chance sell your labels and stuff. I don't own a silhouette or in any shape or form am crafty so if I wanted to place an order for labels, tags etc.. That you have in your post would you do a personalized purchase

I am EXCITED to do this project as we set up our little ones bedrooms!

When my oldest boys were young I used bookcases for their clothes. I would lay their pants out, fold the shirt, underwear and socks on top add the belt or any accessory the outfit required ad then fold the pants over. I would make sure I put them on the shelf with the folded part out. Made it super easy for those busy getting out the door for school with 5 kids at home mornings!

Your ideas are the inspirations I keep coming back to when I feel overwhelmed with the clothes from our family of six. I look at your kids' organized closet and drawers, and I feel inspired to head to the laundry room and conquer the clothing clutter and keep everyone organized. Thank you!!

Our kids wear uniforms to school. So, all of their school uniform items are in one section of the closet. It is easy for them to grab whatever they want to wear to school. I am not too particular about which item(s) they select as long as they are from the school uniform section. They are able to dress quickly in the am which makes me very happy!! :)

MIND. BLOWN. Once again, you come up with the most genius ways to use something so simple to make a fantastic and useful space! I have one of the IVAR units(expedit replacement) on my Ikea shopping list for toy storage in our living room and will now be adding a couple of the smaller ones just for my daughters closet. We have an old house (read: tiny rooms and closets) and I have been scouring my favorite blogs for ideas but most of them are either too expensive or require way too much work/effort. The hubs and I both work full time and DIY stuff isn't exactly our cup of tea, but THIS is totally doable. :) Thank you!

Very interesting!! I do notice, however, that the one closet rod Monday is on the right and goes to Friday on the left. We read from left to right. As a teacher, I would encourage consistency.

What works for me, who NEVER remembers if any piece of clothing is "dressy" or for work wear or for painting ... I keep a bunch of green, yellow, and red yarn loops that I hang over the hanger hook. The green is for "wear anytime" yellow is "wear with caution" and red is "stop and think, ie. dressy". I am amazed at how much easier this makes my clothing choices each day. If its a play day, then I simply choose from the "green" hangers. I don't need to organize anything other than to hang them correctly. Oh and I colour code the labels inside the item, with a magic marker, to match so that after laundry there is no thinking required either. Pants are always hung up with fold over the knee when clean. If they've been worn but aren't ready for the laundry, they are folded on the seams. After 55 years of struggling with this stuff, I've finally found a system that works for me.

Ummmm, there's just one thing bothering me about that closet. First, just let me say I may be a little anal. On the right hand side, there is a dark colored shirt between the red and green one. I kept wanting to reach in there and move it so that it was with the other dark shirts. You may have a reason for having put it there, I don't know but, that was the very first thing I saw when I looked at that picture. Why? If I may ask? Did I say I might be a little anal? Haahaa

I completely understand and would normally feel the same way (my personal closet is sorted by color), however, the kids typically put their own clothes away and I am lucky when they get the shirts turned the right way or short sleeves first and long sleeves second... As long as they can easily find something to wear each day, I figure we won! :) xoxo!

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